Boobies everywhere.

Lovely, now that I have your attention I'd like to talk to you about the Galapagos. More like show you. Because I took 1000000 pictures. So feel free to close this (and my subsequent posts about the Galapagos) if you're not interested in a million AWESOME animal photos. I understand not everyone thinks they're as cool as I do.

Sunset from our boat, the Encantada

La madre viene!!!!!

I made it up to Quito a day before my mom arrived so that I could scope it out for her. The plan was for her to arrive on Thursday evening so that we could get up and see the Good Friday parade. Because of a lovely snow storm, her flights got cancelled, and she arrived bright and early Friday am. After breakfast and some coffee, my trooper of a mother headed out with me to check out this procession. And lets just say it was not like the fun-filled cheerful parades I've seen. 

Ecuador first impressions

I've felt for a while like I've been having a harder time connecting with people and their cultures here in various countries than I did when I was in SE Asia. Maybe its because people here are a little bit more reserved? Maybe its because there are more similarities between N America and S America. There are more things here that feel 'normal' than in SE Asia, so I don't notice them? Who knows. Either way, I decided that one of the things I wanted to do on my way up to Quito was to do a homestay in Saraguro, Ecuador. 

The most perfect mountains I've ever seen

I'd had multiple people tell me that if I only had one hike to do in Peru, I had to do it out of Huaraz. And I only had time to do a couple of days of hiking. So I booked it up to Huaraz. I arrived on a night bus, so I figured I'd spend a day sorting out my plans and leave the next morning. Laguna 69 (yes, thats what it's called pervs) is the classic day hike that everyone does, so I figured I would do that and find another day hike to do.

The view from the van on the way up

Capital city with a cat park!

For most of my life I've always said that I wanted to live in a city. That I can't imagine living in a smaller town, and I'm pretty sure I would go crazy. But traveling I consistently find that I am unimpressed with big cities, and I find myself falling in love with smaller towns. It's a variety of reasons. Safety. Walking (I prefer this SO much more to buses or taxis). Charm. Warmth of people. It seems to be a unanimous trait that people in big cities are in more of a rush. Practicality. Cities are big dirty and busy. Apparently I like that more for living than for visiting. Anyways, it's been rare that I visit a capital city of any country and fall particularly in love with it. Still, I always feel like the capitol city deserves a day or two. And after a day or two, I am usually ready to go.

Checkin' out the Incas

I left Arequipa so that I could meet up with a friend in Cuzco. I sent him a message that I was taking a bus that would take nine hours and arrive by 5pm. When it was 8pm, and I hadn't arrived at our hostel yet, I was starting to make people nervous. This, friends, is why you think twice before buying one of the cheapest tickets you could find. Even though they promised the trip would only take nine hours, the bus stopped to let on/off anyone. At anytime. So I watched people get on and off my bus while I sat in one place and practiced patience. So when I finally arrived I was starving and cranky (hangryyyyyyy). Nothing that a little food and friends can't fix.

Sexiest dogs in the world